Heritage Hints From Mama: Uses For Waxed Paper
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I’m excited to have my Mama with us today! She has a lot of wisdom to share. Be sure and click on some of her other posts at the bottom after you read this one 🙂
Gratefully,
Christy
Hello Everyone!
My name is Janice, better known as Mama. You are welcome to adopt me as your go to Mama and I’ll attempt to answer any of your questions. I will be here to pass on my years of learning by trial and error. Today I thought I would pass on some of the many uses for wax paper.
Now some of you young people may not have a roll of wax paper in your kitchen but I am from a different generation who used it to wrap sandwiches. You see we did not have all sizes of zipper bags: snack size, sandwich size and now even large sizes for storing bedspreads and the like. We used wax paper primarily to wrap sandwiches for our lunches. Over the years, I have found a few different uses for wax paper.
One of my favorite uses is to put it under batters to catch the drips. I use a batter bowl to mix up pancake batter. The bowl has a lip on it so that you can pour the batter into the pan. After you pour the batter, there is always a little that drips from the lip onto the counter. If you wait to wipe it up, it becomes similar to concrete and takes a lot of scrubbing to get it up. Just put a small piece of wax paper on the counter underneath the bowl and you don’t have to worry about the drips. Just wad it up and throw it away when you clean up.
I also slice tomatoes and potatoes over a piece of wax paper and then just gather it up with the peelings still on it and throw it away. It saves having to mess up a bowl or messing up the counter with the peelings (Those thin plastic grocery store bags are good for this as well).
If you are icing a cake, cut three small pieces and slide them underneath the edges. After you finish icing the cake, slowly pull them out and the cake plate will be clean as a whistle. (By the way, who knows how clean a whistle is? I’ve always wondered about that!)
I have another wonderful use of wax paper that saves having to get up on a stool or ladder to clean the tops of your cabinets. If your cabinets do not go all the way to the ceiling, cut a long piece of wax paper to lay on the top of the cabinets. My cabinets are a little narrower than the wax paper. I just cut the length and then fold about an inch under and lay it on top of the cabinets. If you want to display things on top of the cabinets, just set them on top of the wax paper. When you get ready to clean the top of your cabinets, just roll the wax paper up, throw it away and cut another piece to fit. It sure cuts down the time that you would usually spend cleaning the greasy cabinet tops! Ideally, you should probably change the wax paper every three months or so but I promise I will not drop in to see if you want to do it once a year. No one will know but you.
Now, in closing, I’ll leave you with a tip that most of you probably know. I just discovered it last year and it has made a real difference! Most rolls of wax paper, aluminum foil and plastic wrap have a tab on each end of the box that you can push in. It keeps the roll from falling out of the box when you are rolling the product out to cut it. I guess if I had time to read the boxes, I would have known this sooner. Oh well, at least I found out about it before I turned seventy! You see there is a bright side to everything!
Let me know if you have other uses for wax paper or if you discover a time saver for the home. We’re all here to learn together. I’m sure everyone would love a few timesavers and shortcuts.
In the meantime, I need your help. Is there anything in particular you’d like me to write about? I enjoy visiting with y’all but I want to share useful information that you’ll enjoy so your ideas are welcome! Please share them in the comments along with any other great ideas for waxed paper uses. We’d love to hear them!
Take care and remember Mama loves you!
~Mama
You can some read other Heritage Hints From Mama By visiting the links below:
After cleaning my faucets, I wipe them down with wax paper and the water beads right off!
My mom passed a couple of years ago and I still tear up when I think of her. She was a great mom and role model. Miss you Mom!
Great post. I can honestly say it has never ever occurred to me to clean the tops of my cabinets!!! Who it tall enough to see up there? No one in my family.
Love the article. So easy to see that you are mother and daughter…same sense of humor.
I still use wax paper and I am frugal enough that I use the waxed paper and foil liners in cereal boxes, crackers, and cookies. Waste not-want not was the way I was raised. As a tip- when you are rolling cookie or cracker crumbs for a recipe just pop them in one of those saved bags, roll with rolling pin or a full unopened can. Dump your crumbs from the bag and you have not lost any or messed them all around the counters.
First of all, GREAT name!!!! Thanks to you, I now know new ways to use the wax paper that’s been in my pantry for months.
when we were kids our grandma would give us a piece of waxed paper and a comb….instant musical instrument…did the same with my kids….hehe..makes your lips feel funny too….grandma and mom used to line the bottom of cake pans with it too…then grease and flour the waxed paper…when the cake was cooled flip it over and it falls right out…..just peel off the paper…much better idea I think!!!! 2 weeks ago I should have done that…one cake round just didn’t want to pop out….thank goodness for frosting….lol
I’m from your generation, Janice, and I had used plastic sandwich bags for years for sandwiches, etc. but I was reaching a point that I was noticing a plastic-y (don’t believe there is such a word but don’t know how else to describe it) in the bread so I have gone back to the good old reliable wax paper. I’m a happier camper and it has to be more environmentally better. Sometimes, the “old ways” are the best. 😀